Computer science in sport is an interdisciplinary discipline that has its goal in combining the theoretical as well as practical aspects and methods of the areas of

informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' ''Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which ...

and

sport science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

. The main emphasis of the

interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

is placed on the application and use of computer-based but also mathematical techniques in sport science, aiming in this way at the support and advancement of theory and practice in sports. The reason why

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

has become an important partner for sport science is mainly connected with "the fact that the use of data and media, the design of models, the analysis of systems etc. increasingly requires the support of suitable tools and concepts which are developed and available in computer science".

Historical background

Going back in history, computers in sports were used for the first time in the 1960s, when the main purpose was to accumulate sports information.

Database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases sp ...

s were created and expanded in order to launch documentation and dissemination of publications like articles or books that contain any kind of knowledge related to sports science. Until the mid-1970s also the first organization in this area called IASI (International Association for Sports Information) was formally established. Congresses and meetings were organized more often with the aim of standardization and rationalization of sports documentation. Since at that time this area was obviously less computer-oriented, specialists talk about sports information rather than sports informatics when mentioning the beginning of this field of science. Based on the progress of computer science and the invention of more powerful computer hardware in the 1970s, also the real history of computer science in sport began. This was as well the first time when this term was officially used and the initiation of a very important evolution in sports science. In the early stages of this area statistics on biomechanical data, like different kinds of forces or rates, played a major role. Scientists started to analyze sports games by collecting and looking at such values and features in order to interpret them. Later on, with the continuous improvement of computer hardware - in particular microprocessor speed – many new scientific and computing paradigms were introduced, which were also integrated in computer science in sport. Specific examples are

modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

as well as

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

, but also

pattern recognition Pattern recognition is the automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data. It has applications in statistical data analysis, signal processing, image analysis, information retrieval, bioinformatics, data compression, computer graphi ...

, and design. As another result of this development, the term 'computer science in sport' has been added in the encyclopedia of sports science in 2004.

Areas of research

The importance and strong influence of computer science as an interdisciplinary partner for sport and sport science is mainly proven by the research activities in computer science in sport. The following IT concepts are thereby of particular interest: *

Data acquisition Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real-world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital numeric values that can be manipulated by a computer. Data acquisition systems, abbreviated by the acro ...

and

data processing Data processing is the collection and manipulation of digital data to produce meaningful information. Data processing is a form of ''information processing'', which is the modification (processing) of information in any manner detectable by an ...

* Databases and

expert system In artificial intelligence, an expert system is a computer system emulating the decision-making ability of a human expert. Expert systems are designed to solve complex problems by reasoning through bodies of knowledge, represented mainly as if� ...

s * Modelling (mathematical, IT based, biomechanical, physiological) * Simulation (interactive, animation etc.) * Presentation Based on the fields from above, the main areas of research in computer science in sport include amongst others: *

Training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or Physical fitness, fitness that relate to specific practicality, useful Competence (human resources), competencies. Training has specific goals of improving on ...

and coaching *

Biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...

Sports equipment Sports equipment, sporting equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear used to compete in a sport and varies depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from balls, nets, and protective gear like helmets. ...

and technology * Computer-aided applications (software, hardware) in sports *

Ubiquitous computing Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering, hardware engineering and computer science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using a ...

in sports *

Multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

* Documentation * Education

Research communities

A clear demonstration for the evolution and propagation towards computer science in sport is also the fact that nowadays people do research in this area all over the world. Since the 1990s many new national and international organizations regarding the topic of computer science in sport were established. These associations are regularly organizing congresses and workshops with the aim of dissemination as well as exchange of scientific knowledge and information on all sort of topics regarding the interdisciplinary discipline.

Historical survey

As a first example, in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

scientists have built up the MathSport group of

ANZIAM The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) was founded in 1956 and is the national society of the mathematics profession in Australia. One of the Society's listed purposes is to promote the cause of mathematics in the community by representing ...

(Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics), which since 1992 organizes biennial meetings, initially under the name "Mathematics and Computers in Sport Conferences", and now " MathSport".MathSport
www.anziam.org.au Main topics are mathematical models and computer applications in sports, as well as coaching and teaching methods based on informatics. The European community was also among the leading motors of the emergence of the field. Some workshops on this topic were successfully organized in Germany since the late 1980s. In 1997 the first international meeting on computer science in sport was held in Cologne. The main aim was to spread out and share applications, ideas and concepts of the use of computers in sports, which should also make a contribution to the creation of internationalization and thus to boost research work in this area. Since then, such international symposia took place every two years all over Europe. As the first conferences were a raving success, it was decided to go even further and the foundation of an organization was the logical consequence. This step was accomplished in 2003, when the International Association of Computer Science in Sport (IACSS) was established during the 4th international symposium in Barcelona, when Prof. Jürgen Perl was also chosen as the first president. A few years earlier, the first international e-journal on this topic (International Journal of Computer Science in Sport) was released already. The internationalization is confirmed moreover by the fact that three conferences already took place outside of Europe - in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

) in 2007,

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

(

) in 2009 and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

(

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

) in 2011. During the symposium in Calgary additionally the president position changed - it has been assigned to Prof. Arnold Baca, who has been re-elected in 2009 and 2011. The following Symposia on Computer Science in Sport took place in Europe again, in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

(

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) in 2013 and in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

( UK) in 2015. In 2017 the 11th Symposium of Computer Science in Sport took place in

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

). During the conference in Istanbul Prof. Martin Lames was elected as president of the IACSS. He was re-elected in 2015, 2017 and 2019. The 12th International Symposium of Computer Science in Sports was held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

(

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) from 8 to 10 July 2019: https://iacss2019.ru/

National organizations

In addition to the international associations from above, currently the following national associations on computer science in sport exist (if available, the web addresses are also given): * Austrian Association of Computer Science in Sport - http://www.sportinformatik.at * British Association of Computer Science in Sport and Exercise * Chinese Association of Computer Science in Sport * Croatian Association of Computer Science in Sport * Section Computer Science in Sport of the German Association of Sport Science - http://www.dvs-sportinformatik.de (in German) * Swiss Association of Computer Science in Sport SACSS - http://sacss.org * Indian Federation of Computer Science in Sport - http://www.ifcss.in * Portuguese Association of Computer Science in Sport * Turkish Association of Computer Science in Sport * Russian Association of Computer Science in Sport - https://www.racss.ru/

References

External links

MathSport - ANZIAM (Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics)

ECSS (European College of Sport Science)

Havuz Ekipmanları

ISEA (International Sports Engineering Association)

IACSS (International Association of Computer Science in Sport)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Computer Science In Sport Computer science Sports science